Halo: Rising to the Stars
by Luckiswithyouall
Summary: Eric Grace has lost both his parents and has vowed to never let it happen to anyone else. Please R&R. My first fic so please, no flames. Rated T because of swears and violence. AU I am buffing up the UNSC.
1. Prologue

Well this is my first fanfic be nice please, I plan on spending quite a bit of time on this.

Disclaimer: I own nothing about halo except for my OCs.

The bombs could be heard for miles around but in that area, a deed of misfortune happened to a young 13 year old boy.

Crash! The car hurtled into the wall, flipped over. The man who hit them was laying on the floor saying "I'm sorry, I'm so sorry" darkness encumbered the young man.

The next thing he knew, he was laying on the hospital, being watched by a pair of compassionate eyes. His grandfather, the man he looked up to.

"Grandfather, where are they"

His eyes seem to burst with tears as he asked that question, his answer was one that Eric would never forget.


	2. Chapter 1

5 years later

Eric had grown up, a young fit man with deep blue eyes and had great strength. Growing up on the world of Paris VI had been tough, especially in the suburbs. At the ripe age of 16, Eric had joined the marine corps to do what he could to prevent what happened to him to happen to others.

The reason of his parents, and now grandparents death was still Fresh in his minds, the bombings of his city by insurrectionists had killed both his parents by causing a man to ram their car. His grandparents had died soon after by yet another bombing, in which a bomb had landed directly in to the house of his dear grandparents.

Now at the age of 19, he was ready to tackle anything that was thrown his way, well almost anything. He was on shore leave at the time, away from his ship the U.N.S.C Retribution. The Retribution was a heavy destroyer, measuring at the length of 568 metres. It was armed with two MAC(Magnetic Accelerator Cannon) guns capable of shooting a 600 ton Ferric tungsten or depleted uranium Round at 30 Km per second(1/10th the speed of light)

The reports were just coming in but it seemed that this newly found Covenant was dominating Harvest. All of the forces there were retreating back to Utgard, how ever many chose not to leave and was killed by the what the people called glassing. He had heard that the U.N.S.C battle group sent there, consisting of 2 frigates and a destroyer was utterly destroyed by one ship. Eric's battle group, battle group Ares was planned to be sent to retake harvest soon. Eric had always thought that the insurrectionists was almost too much for the U.N.S.C to handle, he now hoped that the U.N.S.C was ready to take on this new enemy.

He was now 19 and fit for duty. He decided to cut his vacation short and head to his ship, prep for the mission that was certainly going to be assigned to them, since they were the strongest battle group closest to Harvest. One the way to his ship, his phone rang, the display said, Jones.

Jones was his closest friend, joined at the same time and had endured the long 3 months of boot camp with him. Eric was lucky to have a friend like Jones. The message said "you see the vid from harvest yet?"

"Of course, meet you at the ship." Message sent.

As he was nearing his ship, the words could clearly be made out from the distant, the U.N.S.C Retribution.

Hope that you guys like this chapter, I already have the next chapter waiting and just waiting for a bit, likely to be tomorrow, hope you guys liked this chapter. Please R&R


	3. Chapter 2

Thanks to everyone who viewed and reviewed. Hope that you guys enjoy this chapter.

Eric's room was just a standard military room, bunks here, table there, uniform here, the only difference was that only 2 people shared the room instead of 4. Both Jones and Eric appreciated this. Eric was a corporal which meant that he was a whole pay grade higher than Jones. He had a silver star medal which was awarded for his actions at the rebel planet of Centuri V( AN I have no idea what planet that is, just made it up). He had saved his squad's lives by taking out an enemy sniper from an extreme range. Unfortunately the sniper had killed 3 of the men before being killed by Eric. This was also where he was promoted to corporal. This was a year ago.

As he walked into the drydocks, he could see the mechanics hurrying to repair whatever little things left othree ship. The Retribution was a force to be reckoned with and could stand toe to toe with a Halcyon class cruiser for a while. On the way to the ship there were some checkpoints that he passed. Once he had passed the checkpoints he headed to his room where everything was ready for him.

At his room, he could tell that Jones had already been here due to his suitcase and picture of his girlfriend in the table. Eric had always shunned girls from his, thinking they were only a distraction from his duty but the more he thought about it the more he seemed to believe that his best friend was right.

"Eric, is that you?" Jones asked.

"Yeah you lovebird, how's Julia doing Jones"?

"Good, she's was quite sad at me for leaving her to come here, when do you think we'll be sent to Harvest"?

"Soon." came the reply of a bored Eric. As he unpacked they chatted about how their lives were doing, he then headed to the mess hall to grab some lunch. He couldn't stop think about what happened on Centuri V

* * *

"Eric! Find the asshole and give him another one"!

"Right away sarge!" The target was in his sights, his finger was on the trigger, one last breath. Bang! Bang! Bang! Three of his squad mates fell down, Jacob, Ali, and Melissa. All dead because he couldn't get the shot of in time. Mad, he shot his entire clip into the sniper's building and knowing he was dead, grabbed another clip for his BR-55 and reloaded, pulling back the bolt. Bang! Bang! Bang! The rest of the enemy soldiers had been killed but Eric had been shooting at the sniper's nest.

"Eric! Eric! I said stand down soldiers, their deaths were not your fault, they knew what they signed up for, don't let their deaths be in vain. Know that we will avenge them by retaking the colony." The sarge said.

"But it was my fault, if only I had fired first, than those deaths would be needless. I failed them sarge, and their price was death."

The Sargent, seeing nothing that he could do to cheer up Eric, looked at him one last time with his compassionate eyes and left. That day was the day that the inssurectionists surrendered on the planet. He was now on leave on the world of Paris VI.

Sorry for the bad quality chapter, I had a really bad day so yeah. Hope that you enjoyed it, please R&R. Thanks for reading.


	4. Chapter 3

Thanks for all the support that you guys are giving me, I hope that you enjoy the chapter.

* * *

2 months later

ETA to Harvest: 2 hours

Ring! Ring! Ring!

"Shut your damned alarm Jones, you'll wake up the entire section!"

"What, it's loud because it's been ringing for half an hour! Get the hell up, well be late for the briefing! The captain will have our necks for sure on this, well it was nice knowing you Eric."

" Oh stop being dramatic Jones, she'll just have your neck since I wasn't the one who set the clock!"

"Well I'll be dead if I don't get there within the next 30 minutes!"

* * *

31 minutes later

"Corporal Grace and private Sower! What is your reason for being late!"

"Well Private Sower here forgot to inform me of the time for the briefing so I the thought that he would have told me later. He drifted to sleep without telling me so I had no time whatsoever to prepare for this meeting. Sorry ma'am."

"Very well corporal Grace, and your reason Sower?"

"Well, uhhhhh"

"Uhhhhh is not a response soldier, give me 50 right now! And an extra 20 for not remembering to inform corporal Grace!"

"Yes ma'am!"

* * *

5 minutes and 70 pushups later

"We all know that this Covenant has been obliterating our space units, but they have not seen the power of the marine corps yet! We will show them what it is like to attack the superior species that is humanity! Get ready to deploy in 1 hour 34 minutes."

The division on board split up into platoons and the platoons split up into squads.

"Hey there James,you think that these Covenant have many ships? "

"No, and just because you got your ass handed back on a silver platter by the captain doesn't mean that you get to call me James."

After that conversation everyone put on their standard military armor and checked their weapons. The snipers counted rounds and talked about how their snipers were going to kill every thing in their scoops.

Eric cleaned his BR-55's insides and scopes with a delicacy that one would have used to handle a baby. His armor was on as tight as possible as to avoid something dropping. Although the armor was pale in comparison to the ODST's armor and the MJOLNIR armor. The armor had saved Eric's life multiple times like when it stopped a bullet that entered his armor directly in line with his heart.

"5 minutes left until we are exiting slips space, please head tto your respective pelican and await further instructions."

"Come on Eric, stop day-dreaming and get those feet moving, we got a planet to liberate.

* * *

Well not exactly a long chapter but I think that it is good enough, please review. I've got another chapter ready but just waiting for one review, 1 that's all I'm asking for, thank you. Or you can wait a few more days.


	5. Chapter 4

Well I hope that you liked the last chapter, I would like to thank the guests for reviewing and I hope that you will enjoy this chapter, quick question would you prefer longer chapters with a longer wait time or a short chapter like this with one every few days, hope you guys like it.

* * *

Eta to Harvest: 1 minute

Battle Group Ares

"Hope you guys liked you flight on Air Pelican, please keep your head away from sharp projectiles and good luck, we will be arriving in 6 minutes." our friendly neighborhood pilot, Jessica announced. Jessica was also known as Joker for her sarcastic comments.

"Well Jessica not every can have your enthusiasm so instead we're settling for busting a few heads, right boys?"

"Yes sir!"

"if you look to the right screen, you can see the planet of Harvest in 5 seconds."

A picture of harvest popped up but it was not the same, there were scorch marks visible on the planet surface and a large purple ship blockading it. But to the surprise of there's, there was no visible damage to it from the battle with the destroyer and 2 of the frigates.

"Everyone brace for firing." the rear admiral's voice boomed over the speaker.

As the round was shot, it was seen approaching the ship but suddenly it was deflected! A glowing bubble around the ship and protected it, likely to be shields. Then the rest of the fleet fired, hoping to be able to penetrate the shields so 11 frigates, 4 destroyers, 4 modified pheonix class colony ships, 2 Marathon class cruisers, and the carrier Musashi fired in unison and Bam! The shields on the thing disappeared and it was utterly obliberated.

"Alright men, prepare to departure the ship, we have orders to secure Harvest!"

* * *

As boots hit the ground, Eric looked around and could see FOBs being set up.

"First squad, second platoon on me!" Our Sargent yelled!

As the squad converged around the Sargent he explained the orders.

"Our orders are to secure a court yard with second squad, expect enemy resistance. Weapons free anything that moves and isn't ours is a target, got that "

"Yes sir!" the squad yelled!.

"Alright, head to the pelican, we have a planet to liberate!"

As first and second squads moved to the pelican he could see the higher ups worry about something, he could catch snippets of the conversation like "enemy reinforcements" and "air support" but other than that there was nothing of interest. He climbed into the pelican that was designated as Sierra 117.

* * *

Alright guys, I might include some more action in the next chapter but the master chief won't come up until later. Please review and thanks to for reviewing. Ps the name of the pelican was just a random one that I chose, however if the story continues I might have the chief come. No promises so please the review button did not move, please review.


	6. Chapter 5 and 6

AN: Not much to say other than enjoy :)

* * *

Harvest

The warm Harvest climate did not suit the firefight happening in the courtyard the marine's rifles pinged off the Elites shields and grunts died left, right, and center. Eric was hiding behind a pot, avoiding incoming blobs of plasma, first squad was at half strength and while 2nd squad only had a quarter of their men left. Out of the alien's team they had lost 2/3s of the grunts while 1/3 of the elite forces had been decimated.

"Sarge! Look out!" the Sargent ducked in time to avoid a blob of plasma hitting his head. The marines were running low on ammo and most had injuries already. All hope was lost, until 2 Scorpian MBTs rolled onto the battle field and supported the marine squads.

Eric himself had a round graze his left arm but it still hurt when he used it. He also managed to get 9 kills in total, 7 of the grunts and 2 elites. His BR was out of ammo so once a young blond medic by the name of Leslie had fixed him up, he headed to a refitting station to get a new forearm plating.

The refitting center was full of his remaining squad mates, including Jones.

"How are you doing Jones?" When Jones faced Eric, he finally saw the extent of the damage to his best friend, a plasma round had hit his right cheek, burning away all the flesh there.

"How does it look like I'm doing! I was doing fine until you decided to not finish off an elite, the one that hit me!"

"What are you talking about?"

"You know what I'm talking about, the blue elite, the one without shields that hid behind a pot opposite to you!"

"Well I'm sorry! What do you want me to do, kiss it better?"

"NO, I want to never talk to you again!" Jones turned around and stomped out of the refitting station. The entire station had stopped what they were doing and then tried to say to Eric that it wasn't his fault. One by one the stepped out of the station to give Eric some alone time.

Leslie walked into the station and saw Eric weeping. "What's wrong soldier?"

"Nothing!" was the sharp reply.

"You can tell me, what happened?" asked Leslie and she sat beside him, looking at him with sincere eyes.

"My best friend left me. He said it was my fault that he got injured."

"Well don't listen to him, he knew what he was signing up for when he joined the corps, he knew that there would be injuries,front blame yourself ok. I have to go, see you soon..."

"Eric, my name is Eric."

"Well then see you Eric." Leslie walked out of the station to let Eric think about it. He knows that he shouldn't let his best friend just walk away so he instead resolves that he'll talk to him later. He grabbed several clips for his handgun and BR and checked to see if they have full capacity. He finishes his weapons check and heads to the barracks to get some rest.

* * *

Double chapter for you guys so please enjoy.

* * *

"Marines, this is no a drill, please head to your battle stations! Covenant forces have infiltrated the base, check all doors! I repeat, this is not a drill!"

Still tired, Eric loads his handgun by his bed and heads to the door. The rest of the marines in the area, including Jones and Leslie had taken positions on either side of him, waiting for the doors to open, some marines still carried their MA5 assault rifles and BRs but there weren't enough for the entire marine populace. Eric however also had his trusty BR so he stood closer to theback while those with MA5s stood nearer to the front. Footsteps could be heard as the sound of the sound of gunfire lessens and the sound of the energy swords the elites carried could be heard energizing(Don't know what it's called, if you do know please tell me in the review thanks) behind the doors. Pound!Pound!Pound! The doors gave under the pressure and elites pored into the room, M6 handguns, MA5 assault rifles, and BR-55s pored lead into anything that moved in the kills one the marines had previously set up. But the elites were not completely defenceless as they took cover on the other side of the wall and returned fire with their plasma rifles and pistols. Unarmored marines now started falling, the fabric of their fatigues doing nothing to stop the scorching plasma.

"AH!"

"Jones is hit, we need a medic!"

Knowing that he couldn't confirm that his friend was ok, he hit the bastard that had hit Jones and ducked behind cover, slinging his BR-55 over his shoulder and taking out he handgun. The marines with the M6s started to concentrate fire to take down the shields of the elites quicker. Eric hoped that the reinforcements came here quickly as the fact that many marines were running lowain ammo became apparent as many prepared for a knife fight. The ones still alive desperately scavenged for ammo or stole from the corpses of the elites. Te elites had finally broken through the blockade and were steadily pushing back the marines. The corpses on either side began to stack up but the marines were desperately outnumbered. Each marine was hoping for reinforcements but as the firefight became less and less intense the marines began to lose hope.

Bang!Bang!Bang! The sound of a sniper rifle rang out in the distant and 3 elites dropped, all of the missing their heads. As the sniper picked off more elites, the marines fought with renewed vigor and pushed back the elites to the door. The elites now fought a 2 sided battle and were losing hope rapidly. The marines in the side were armed with MA5 and suppressed the the elites while the ones in the barracks picked them off with their handguns.

As the last elite corpse fell down Eric rushed to Jones to see a fatal wound on his left side, right on his heart. He saw Eric coandante put into Eric's hand a piece of paper with the words "To Julia"on the front. He than whispered words into Eric's ear.

"Tell Julia that I'm sorry I didn't make it back and that I lo-" his head fell down and his pulse stopped.

Eric fell to the ground, weeping for his lost friend and thought that war had taken his family and now his friends. Leslie wrapped her arms around Eric and comforted him, saying that things would be alright and that she would be there for him. Eric gently removed his friend's dog tags and looked at his palm. Things will never be alright he thought, not anymore.

* * *

Well I hope that it was enjoyable, the review button did not move so please review.


	7. Chapter 7

AN: well I hope you liked the double chapter and will enjoy this one. Read the AN at the bottom please, Quite important.

* * *

Harvest Fob Alpha

"Did you hear?"

"Hear what?"

"You know the sniper who saved us yesterday, yeah that one, it turns out that the soldier was an ODST a sole survivor of his unit, man those guys are hardcore."

"Yeah, you know what else is hard? This bread."

Eric walked pass the marines and was only mildly interested due to the fact that he knew this already. He has talked to the ODST after the fighting had stopped and the body of the dead were brought aboard a pelican to get shipped back to the colonies. He didn't stop, didn't help the man who was pinned down, ate his rations which happened to an over cooked egg, and several days expired bread, toasted using a flamethrower, which was thanks from a hell bringer that he had saved. Many of the marines who died were just rookies who had yet to see the true horrors of war, but than again, none of them expected to think that this Covenant was this crafty, this vile to kill unguarded marines. From the reports that Eric had access to it had seemed that the colonial militia had put up a good fight, a great fight even considering the circumstances. They were fighting a losing battle, a battle where the enemy had superior equipment AND numbers. It was a fight that any other race would have given up, but it was a fight that humans would fight until the last man and last breath, if it came to that.

Battle group Aries was more than a match for anything the enemy had to throw to them but with the shielding the elites had, they may have been mistaken. If their land troops had the power to block half a BR clip, he wondered how much punishment their ship shields would take. Also the plasma weaponry that they used seemed impossible to use for human hands due to the fact that the plasma literally spills out the sides and will burn the human hand. Many of the men and women that Eric had seen died had died with much of their body burnt beyond recognition.

"Corporal Grace, please report to section B office 3 immediately."

Dumping his tray into the garbage recycler he hiked to the office and waited until he was invited in.

"Corporal Grace, please come in." the voice of the colonel in charge sounded rough, like he had seen the true face of war.

"Sir, Corporal Grace reporting as ordered sir!"

"At ease soldier, you should know that Corporal Sower's body has been shipped to Paris IV and his family has received his note. He will be missed however with the death of many fine officers in the night attack We would like to promote you to Sargent, congratulations Sargent Grace."

"Well sir, I don't know how to thank you."

"Thank me by killing the alien bastards who did this, you will get the roster for your squad in the morning, Dismissed!"

"Sir" Eric snapped off a sharp salute and turned out of the room. On the way out he could not begin to comprehend what just happened. His promotion to Sargent was surprising to him and he could imagine what leslie would say about this

Leslie and him had gotten close in the past few days, his feelings were conflicted about her. One part of him said to go for it while the other said that no good could come out of it. His grandparents had always told him that he should follow what he thought was good so he steeled himself for the decision. He marched himself to platoon c's barracks and asked for Leslie, her friends stared at him like he was an alien - and in a way he was - than pointed at the mess hall. Hoping that the uppers had not heard about him in here and than kicking him out, he hurried to find Leslie sitting there, alone, like she was expecting him. Eric confidently walked over to her and sat down beside her. He heard some sniffing and was suddenly worried, protective even.

"You alright Leslie?"

"Why are you here?"

"I just wanted to tell you something but you seem rather occupied, I could talk to you tomorrow if you want."

"No, it's alright, stay for a bit."

Eric began to get into a more comfortable position and listened with a devotion that could hardly be found in any man or boy. He had always thought that girls had been a distraction before, and he was right, but they were also different, more caring, always there, and most of all they confided in you if they trusted you. Leslie had changed his view, changed everything, and it was for the better as he began to be more trustful of her. He was in love, he had fallen for a girl.

* * *

This is what battle group Aries is made up of, I know that this is not what actually happens but I wanna take my story a different way.

Battle group Aries:

5 Paris class frigates

6 Charon class frigates

4 modified pheonix class colony ships

4 heavy destroyers

2 marathon class cruisers

The UNSC carrier Musashi

Well now that Eric is starting a relationship, where should I take it, to more fighting or talking, space battles or ground battles. I also wanna say that this will become AU very soon. Thanks for waiting by the way for me to get my inspiration back. Please R&R, just for the sake of doing so please. This is also the longest chapter I have done, I hope to make them at least this long from now on.


	8. Chapter 8

Harvest F.O.B Alpha

Lights turned on as the UNSC base began to become operational again and marines could be seen guarding the perimeter. Many marines however were still sleeping, except for a certain Sargent, making sure that the last night was real. He and Leslie were now officially dating but he had hoped that she would have leaved him alone for a bit, he requested form Leslie to be transferred to his squad, high com had approved his request and had 3 other men that he had never yet met. They was a heavy weapons expert and than 2 riflemen, it was a fire team of five that was to be part of company 2, platoon D, squad 1. They were to be the recon squad of the platoon D and had the most experience fighting the aliens so far. He was to meet with his squad soon. He already knew Leslie so he was to meet with the other 3 to see what they were like and how to best position them. They were fire team 2 of squad two. Fire team one was led by a man named Staff Sargent Gerald Lee. He was a 3 year veteran that had fought against insurrectionists but never with aliens before. Staff Sargent Lee was in command of fire team 1, there are 3 riflemen including himself, A sniper, and a Heavy Weapons man. He was to be in command of the squad however as he had more experience.

"Sir! Lance Corporal Watcher and Private First Class (PFC) Smith, reporting as ordered Sir!"

"At ease."

Eric tried to learn about their history, if they had any experience in the field, and if they we best suited for close combat or ranged. Lance Corporal Watcher preferred to be up close and personal while PFC Smith preferred to be at a far range, picking off the enemies. He could only wonder on what the third man was like. The file on Corporal Foley had been detailed, he was a riflemen that was quite successful against the insurrectionists, he had been part of task force that had successfully assassinated an insurrectionist leader. Of course the insurrectionist threat had disappeared so he was transferred to the marines, as was his task force. Out of those three Foley was the most decorated, several purple hearts and a silver star. He was only 23 though, older than Eric himself! But it said that he had been demoted due to the killing of several civilians. Eric had joined up to protect them, not work with a man who had killed civilians!

Just then Leslie walked in, "How are you doing Eric?" she asked.

"Badly, one of the men in the fire team had murdered several civilians. I'm not sure what to do with him. Well just let him be for now, you'll solve this later."

She walked up to him but before she could do anything the battle alarm rang! "All Marines, to battle stations! This is not a drill! The Covenant have dropped into the surrounding area, Base Bravo has sent reinforcements and we will hold out until they arrive! Suit up!"

The marines scrambled to put on equipment, checking their weapons, and setting up defensive positions. The 5 main entrances were being blockaded and marines would be prepared to fight to the last man. Alpha Base unfortunately was only an infantry base, meaning that there were to be no vehicles other than a few Warthogs. But the good thing was that the base also had a secret weapon, soldiers that didn't fear death, they didn't fear the Covenant, and they sure as hell didn't fear hell, they were Helljumpers.

* * *

Field scientist report:

The Elites were basically the field commanders and squad leaders. Their race name is Sangleili. There also the grunts, they are mostly used as common fodder, one or two of them are easily dispatched of but in large groups they can overwhelm all but the best squads. Their race name is the Unggoy. The Jackels are snipers, scouts, and assassins, they have excellent vision and can pick out targets at will. Their race name is the Kig-Yar. The strong yet subordinate Brutes were often competitors with the elites for they wanted to take over elite positions. They are great shock troopers and their race name is the Jiralhanae. Out of the 4 species the elites were most feared for their strength and tactical brilliance.

End report.

Eric read and reread the report, it seemed like the grunts are the most common yet it seemed weird how he had yet to see the Brutes and Jackels, "They must think they can beat us without them" he thought. How wrong they were.

* * *

Company 2: Platoon D: Squad 1: Fireteam 2:

Sargent Eric Grace: Squad leader: Marksmen: Trained in the use of the BR55 service rifle, MA5 assault rifle all variants, and the SRS99C-S2 AM. He is trained in CQC and is a natural leader.

Lance Corporal Leslie Williams: Medic: Trained in the use of the BR55 and the MA5 assault rifle all variants. Has a field medic degree and minor field doctors degree, allowing for wounds to be treated that are class 4 and lower.

Lance Corporal Sam Watcher: Heavy weapons: Trained in the use of the MA5 assault rifle all variants, M41 Surface to surface Rocket anti-tank/assault weapon, and the M6 grindell/galilean non linear rifle. Also trained in CQC.

Private First Class Henry Smith: Riflemen: Trained in the use of the BR55 service rifle and the MA5 assault rifle all variants. He is also trained in CQC.

Corporal Paul Foley: Riflemen: Trained in the use of the BR55 service rifle and the MA5 assault rifle all variants. He is also trained in CQC.

* * *

This is gonna be his FIRETEAM, not the whole squad which is made up of two fire teams, the next chapter will advance the story quite a bit, also thanks to my beta Order and Chaos - Qui Indicant. Chapter 9 will be up soon.


	9. Chapter 9

Harvest Alpha Base

* * *

The staccato of gunfire rang out from every direction out of the base. The Covenant had yet to breach the entrances but that was soon to change if reinforcements didn't arrive soon. Occasionally the Marines would fall back to a secondary or tertiary positions but that was soon to change. The Marines were putting up a valiant fight but they were running low on ammo, and quick. In CQC the elites would have the upper hand, energy swords would burn through armor like it wasn't there and the physical prowess would overwhelm Marines in every corner.

Eric had stationed his fire team at checkpoint Bravo, guarded by 3 Marine squads, or what was left of them. Staff Sargent Lee and his fire team had been vaporized by a Wrath plasma cannon, leaving Eric the defacto leader of Platoon D as he was the highest ranking soldier. Things were becoming desperate as the Covenant pushed and gained ground with each passing second, yes the 4 squads were holding but most were now using side arms as they had run out of ammo. Eric and Leslie were crouched behind the cement blockade, plasma scorching the cement. Lance Corporal Watcher and PFC Smith were taking shelter behind 2 titanium pillars, both were preparing their knives. Corporal Foley however had 2 magazines of the assault rifle (as to help me, I'm just calling the MA5 the assault rifle) left. The other 3 squads were faring much worse as 2 of them were at a quarter strength while the other at a third.

Bang! Bang! Bang! The bark of the BR (Battle Rifle) said death to the Covenant whenever it landed but the feeling was short lived.

"I'm out!"

"Same!"

"Well then start prepping your knives, use any advantage you have, they are stronger and faster but we have the advantage, we know where to stab them. Stay away from the swords and good luck! Well Leslie, this ended quicker than I thought."

"Not yet it hasn't!" she snarled at Eric. " Don't give up so quickly, the men are looking at you for inspiration, don't let them down, don't let me down."

Encouraged by Leslie, Eric fires the last of his magazine and reaches for his knife, it was 12 inch one sided barbed knife, designed for enduring the cruelty of the battlefield and to penetrate armor and bone. It would be crushed by energy shields though.

"Everyone, it's been an honor so see you on the other side, but know this, if we go down we will not be hunted down like sheep, we will not cower, we will go down fighting so that others may continue the fight, we WILL be victorious at the end of the day as it will be us who holds their head in our hands. Good luck."

Beginning to anticipate the incoming melee battle, they all take out their knives and pray to whoever their religion goes to. Eric managed to convince Leslie to go into the side and wait since she would only hinder the combatants. As they prepared they heard heavy thumps that could signal only one thing, more reinforcements, but for who. The corridor was dark but it was impossible to mistaken the matte black armor of the ODSTs.

"Heard that you guys needed some help, thought we would oblige." the apparent leader of the squad said as he surveyed the scene he said "It would be best for you to stay here, you are all carrying knives which means that you have no ammo or are complete idiots but you don't survive this long if your an idiot so I'm inclined to believe the former, stay here, we'll hold them off, get to the armory and resupply. But get back here quick."

"You heard them man!" Eric booms "Double time it, we don't have all day!" The armory was a good 300 meters away from their positions. "Watcher, grab that HMG (Heavy Machine Gun) and get back there double time, Smith, grab the tripod and whatever you need and book it back there. Everyone else grab more ammo, weapons and some mines, we'll leave them a surprise soon." Eric restocks on BR ammo while Leslie takes a SMG (Sub Machine Gun). Foley however takes a shotgun, one of the new magazine fed ones and a assault rifle.

The rest of the platoon suited up and replaced what they needed and was patched up by Leslie. Once that was done they all headed out to meet with the ODSTs and his 2 men again. They came to see a welcome sight, the Covenant were suppressed and most of the ODSTs were alive and unscathed.

"Major" Eric says to gain attention "We should bug out, my men bought some mines here and are deploying them as we speak, we will have a better chance to stay alive if we fallback to RV Bravo."

"Don't you know Sargent, ODSTs never retreat" the Major replied.

"Yes but the Covenant will overwhelm us with pure numbers, a tighter corridor will give us the advantage,"

"Very well. Sound the retreat, to RV Bravo!"

The Marines covered the ODSTs and the heavy gunners as they packed up and ran to RV Bravo. The Marines than slowly fell back, one at a time until they all cleared the blast radius of the Mines.

"Think they've seen our little surprise yet?" Boom! "Never mind Sarge." The marine said.

The Marines and ODSTs than began to set up for round 2, this time the battle would be in their favor, no more ammo limitations as they were right beside the armory and the tight corridor was a perfect kill zone, there was no way the alien bastards were gonna survive.

* * *

I now know one thing, I suck at combat scenes, I just can't do them. Well I hope that I get better at them and once again thanks to Order and Chaos - Qui Indicant. Also please R&R. Thanks.


	10. Chapter 10

Harvest Alpha base

* * *

The Covenant had stopped their un-relentless push for the night. Eric had not heard from any of the other base teams and was worried. If any entrance fell the Covenant would be able surround them, effectively cornering them in the armory. Eric was most concern about the silence, there was no staccato of gunfire or the whine of plasma weapons, this could be because the covenant had given up or the UNSC had been defeated. The Major had been wounded and declared unfit for action, once again making Eric the leader of the 34 surviving men. The base garrison had compromised of 320 men, 2 companies worth of men, there was no way the Covenant could have defeated them all in the 5 hours it had been since the siege started.

Ammo supplies were in danger of running out so the only real concern was medicinal and food supplies, Eric had considered sending out a squad or 2 to get supplies but that left the armory at too much risk. If he sent too little men than there would be no one left to come back. The Covenant had not entered their entrance but that didn't mean that the same thing happened to the other entrances. They could have been overrun in the 2 hours since they had last checked in.

"Sir! We have heard footsteps in the eastern hallway, should we investigate?"

"Yes, gather 3 other fit men and meet at the east hall. We will be investigating." As Eric waited for the man to get the 3 other men he found himself heading to the armory, he decided that it was likely to be close quarters combat so he grabbed a shotgun and an SMG. HE than headed to the East corridor and saw the men already waiting, they were all ODSTs, armed with assault rifles and shotguns, they headed into the corridor in a V formation. Eric was on point with 2 men on each side. As they walked closer into the darkness he turned on his NVGs (Night Vision Goggles).

Up ahead he could smell burnt flesh, hoping it wasn't human flesh he jogged up to see the burnt corpse of an Elite.

"The hell happened here? Looks like friendly fire don't it?"

"Stay on your guard, we don't know what else is lurking around the corner." Eric rounded the corner to be put into the face of a plasma rifle.

Heaving a sigh the stranger dropped the weapon and said "Took you reinforcements long enough to get here, we've been using the aliens weapons to survive, ran outta ammo long ago."

"Sorry to bear the bad news but we aren't reinforcements, were just survivors from platoon D, I can tell that your from C, mind telling us what happened?"

"The aliens, they just came out off now where, they have cloaking abilities or armor that does it for them. they appeared in the middle of our defenses and took out

everyone, me and 5 other men were the only survivors. We were trying to head to the armory to restock but got ambushed by the aliens you saw dead. I'm the only survivor."

"Well you sound like you could use a few hours sleep, the camps only a bit that way, Lets move out!" Eric once agin took point in the V formation but the difference was the survivor and the newly acquired plasma weapons. They could be used but you had to shake the rifle so the plasma would form correctly as it would easily overheat. The journey back was uneventful but back at the armory the Covenant had launched a full scale attack on the corridor and was walking into a kill zone. The body pile was growing with each passing shot as the chain gun tore away at the energy shields and armor but suddenly. Boom! The entire foundation shook as bombs were dropped. The remaining Covenant had been distracted and than cut down by the remaining Marines and ODSTs. As the time passed rumbles could be heard above. The most surprising thing was the Marines that were clearing away the body pile from the outside. All the trapped men rushed out to find a devastated world, trees were knocked down, fires were every where and the carcasses littered the place, of both humans and the Covenant. This was the beginning of a war that change the galaxy, the beginning of the Great War.

* * *

Well this is where the main story will start, this so far has only been the Intro leading to this. The next chapter will roughly be the same length as this though, hopefull the next 2 chapters wil be up by next week. Thanks to my beta Order and Chaos - Qui Indicant. Also sorry for it being slighty shorter than what I said it would be.


	11. Chapter 11

February 28 2531

Last battle of Harvest

* * *

Log of a Lieutenant Eric Grace:

The Covenant have finally been pushed back to the northern region of Harvest. The 6 years fighting I have never seen anything more cruel than what I have seen. Some elite superiors had taped explosives onto the backs of the grunts, they always obey the elites and it was no different this time. They snuck into our camp last night, hid themselves under our heavy tanks, and blew them up. By the time we figured out what happened they took out 1/3 of our 50 scorpion tanks. The elites were heard in the distance so we did the one thing we were trained for, we fought.

End log:

* * *

Harvest was different, the air was no longer dry, it was freezing, the task force was in the north pole of Harvest. Full of no wildlife there was nothing to survive on except for a few plants and our MREs. A few days ago the covenant had sabotaged our tanks and those that survived were ended repairs so we were now left with 31 out of the 50 starting scorpions, 3 days into the damn campaign and we already lost 19 tanks. The remaining crewmen had dispersed into the other tanks and when they were full they were given the crash course on the assault rifle. Many of the men were already demoralized so the tanks destruction worsened the morale and turned the 5 day campaign turned 2 weeks of laying siege to the covenant outpost, the plan was to meet up with the task force composed of 200 tanks and the battalion but the the extra 50 were complementary so they were given to our task force. The were running low on rations though and many had frostbitten fingers and toes. Most had lost fingers and toes already, men were beginning to talk of desertion already and Eric didn't blame them.

The covenant however had also shown signs of activity as after the tanks were sabotaged they launched a full scale attack only to be beaten back by the remaining tanks. Eric had planed an offensive and began to mobilize to the forces, how he wished that Leslie were here. Sergeants Watcher, Smith, and Foley had command of a squad each in the task force, they was a heavy weapons squad in command of Sargent Watcher and 2 marksmen squad commanded by the other 2. They were an excellent part the task force as they could eliminate many officers before the main force got there.

However not everything had just its perks. Leslie was deemed as not needed and so she was sent to the main task force. But they were soon to meet as the final push was near. It was time for the battle of Harvest to decide itself.

* * *

Well to anyone reading this still this update took a very long time but I've been busy. Updates may or may not come quick so no promises but I'll do my best. Also a very short chapter but the Deciding battle of harvest WILL be longer. Review please.


	12. Chapter 12

Well I'm gonna jump to first person POV from now on, it will be easier for me to understand and remember so yeah.

* * *

Harvest, northern region

32nd Marine battalion

March 3, 2531

Final battle of Harvest

* * *

Log of Lieutenant Eric Grace:

We've got them on the run, they've been falling back to position after position. Hopefully it will be over soon, there have been sightings of Disturbances in the far range of scopes but they have been passed off as illusions. I can begin to speculate what they are but my fears are unconfirmed, they may be cloaked Elites. If they are they have given us no trouble but that is likely to change. We are approaching their main base so I have doubled patrol shifts and added more men to the secure roster. I hope they understand.

End log of Lieutenant Eric Grace

"Take cover!" Plasma bombarded the entire field, shaking the planet to its very core.

"Get some squads on that right flank, they're close to being overwhelmed. Have 3 platoon and the reserve scorpions move up the left and prepare to spearhead an assault. Also, mobilize some Warthogs to have them counter the Ghosts harassing our flanks. On the double!"

The command tent was full of chaos, soldiers were running left, right and center to find their platoons or supplies. The field medic triage was packed but at least he knew Leslie would be safe there. The Covenant have been holding this valley for a few days, he had met up with the rest of the army a couple days back and now, he as a lieutenant, was in full command of the 10000 or so soldier army, or whatever was left of it that was. The uppers had been killed in an assassination mission made by elites, they had killed over 10 men before they had been killed. If things could get any worse it did. The army was in disarray for a few hours, trying to establish until it became clear that he was the commanding officer now.

Then things went down the drain from there. The Covenant were fully fortified in their valley, perfectly content to sit and wait for the marines to come charging at them. What they didn't expect was for the marines to adapt. One of the soldiers had came up with the idea of bonding several breastplates together to create a shield. Their army had been issued Arctic region armor but somehow they also received another shipment of plain standard armor also. They used the standard armor and wielded it 4 of them together to make a solid shield. It seemed as though nothing less than a minute of concentrated plasma fire would melt through it, although the temperature would have burned the hand off by then. These shields were used in rotations, squads carried 2 shields and rotated them every once in a while to prevent them from heating up too badly. With these shields they managed to cut losses in half.

"Have the flanking parties found a way through the valley yet?"

"Um, no sir, the parties have not yet found a way although the left flank has manage to push through the enemy lines and are assuming a flanking position. They are awaiting your orders sir."

"Well order them to hurry it up them!"

*Hiss* "Lieutenant, duck!"

The energy sword missed me by a hairs length but cut the arm of the man standing next to me.

I grabbed a M6D handgun off the table and rolled behind one, I looked out the tent flap to find that the guards were on their backs, necks broken. I fired blindly at the Elites and the shots soon attracted some marines on a patrol. They quickly disposed of the Elites and checked them. One of them was a high ranking one, a zealot if memory served right. He met have been tasked with assassinating me I thought. These guys were often rare and was only found in the service of a prophet, the leaders of the Covenant. Knowing what it meant, I rounded up a few squads and snipers, and tasked them with locating the prophet.

"This could be a major blow to them, they might lose enough morale that we could be a blue to break through their lines. Marine losses would be a minimal and we would have won a major victory."

I quickly recalled all attacks and set up defensive positions around the hill the camp was made on. Guards were on high alert and towers were erected. Walls were placed in a perimeter around the base but they were temporal. The scorpions were placed in a secure hanger with guards rotating check points along the route, these tanks were needed if they were to secure the position.

Scouts were just reporting in that the prophet had been spotted, guarded by no less than 12 zealots at one time. If only they had more time but no, I quickly assembled some of the best snipers in the battalion and placed them on transport warthogs along with some marines for protection. They knew they were heading for a suicide mission but did it anyways. They were brave men but one especially stood out. His face was full of pride and encouraged others, he was part of the marines that were to go with the snipers. He was also only 19.

As Eric jumped onto one of the warthogs and motioned for the convoy to start. Eric sat idly while the warthogs drove at speed of 90-100 mph. Every bump was noticeable but it was soon becoming dangerous and apparently a covenant patrol and infiltrated the near defenseless base camp. Without it they would not have a comm uplink, leaving them in the dark. Also th- Leslie! He forgot about her at the base camp and she was still there, tending to the wounded and dying. He hoped they could repel the attack but first things first, take out the prophet.

He had wanted to take out the prophet himself but he was not trained for 1 mile + targets. He hoped the snipers would be good enough to take him out and that the marines would be able to hold them off cause they would be enraged once they found what happened to their prophet. He would make the bastards pay for everything they did, for everyone they killed.

High command knew about the mission and had approved and said they would be sending an additional battalion as soon as they could but I had no high hopes, they were in a jammed position but they would eventually survive.

"Snipers, on my mark. 3. 2. 1. Mark!" Bang, four consecutive shots rang out and the prophet was sent flying out of his hover chair. "Alright get back on the warthogs, we've gotta get out before they send a full force at us." But it was too late, phantoms and spirits were tailing them along with some ghosts. They had already lost some warthogs and wouldn't last much longer if this continued. But was there any opportunity to get out?

Bang! The warthog flipped and the last thing I remember was the pain in my left leg then it's all black.

* * *

A.N Well it was only slightly longer and only part one so there's gonna be another part to this, so review please.


	13. Chapter 13

Marine HQ

"How much longer?"

"Five minutes sir."

"Wish them luck then." The marines task force sent out had nearly reached their destination, just a bit over a klick left till they were at the valley. This prophet was known to be one of the three most influential prophets so this was worth several vulture aircraft to high command. They sent those in along with a few relief troops that Eric requested several times already. The Vultures were to distract the covenant the moment the snipers fired, allowing them to flee to safety. Then the plan was to bunker up and holdout until the atmospheric storm stopped, allowing the orbiting ships to drop some more reinforcements. The good thing about the storm was that it also grounded the covenant.

"Sniper team Alpha in position."

"Bravo ready to go."

"Zulu has target in sight."

"Delta has a green."

"This High Command, fire on Alpha's mark."

"Yes sir!"

From the UAV's camera angle all the teams were on 4 separate cliffs that had easy escape routes, the snipers they used were a experimental weapons. They used a same function as a Mac and could punch through .5 m of Titanium A armor plating with ease so shields should be easy for it. These weapons were still in production stage so they worked very well except they were also very heavy and had a low rate of fire. But even with that it was still a snipers dream. These were to be mounted a newly developed APC that Marines had access to. These APC's were a force to be reckoned with. The M926 Armored Personnel Carrier, also known as the Puma. It had the Mini Mac gun mounted on a 360 degree rotatable turret. It has two 50 caliber chain guns on the sides. (Thing of the Bradley Fighting Vehicle with two turrets on the side) these Pumas were responsible for getting these marines out as the Warthogs were too lightly armored and were deemed too dangerous.

"This is Alpha team, stand by for mark. 3. 2. 1. Mark!" Four simultaneous Mini Mac rounds we're fired and ended the life a Prophet. He was just identified as the Prophet of Regret. With their prophet dead the covenant that were still alive quickly reorganized and and multiple companies were moving up the hillside towards the snipers. The Vultures sprang to life and began to Harass the flanks of the Covenant until they sustained enough damage and retreated.

"This is Marine task force (MTF) 1, we are intercepting the covenant force now."

"This is MTF 2, we'll catch them in a pincer. Get those APCs moving once the snipers are gone, leave some for us."

Although the Marines were heavily outnumbered they managed to barely hold the pass into the valley and sustained heavy casualties. The pincer attack caught the Covenant by surprise and the attack was broken. The remaining Covenant were quickly slaughtered by the marines and they were all in high spirits. Why wouldn't they be? They just killed a Prophet, one of the most influential leaders for the Covenant.

Back at the base everyone was cheering. The storm was lifting and command was sending in several battalions to reinforce the base. The battle for Harvest would be over soon. There was no doubt about that. Without the Prophet the morale would drop as soon as news of his death reached their ears, Harvest would be saved.

The remaining fleet of 17 ships would likely be sent to another planet and along with them Eric and his Battalion.

"Eric! We did it! We won!"

"Yeah, I guess we did, but there are other worlds out there."

"New message from fleet Command. All Marine detachments out there, you are being recalled and evacuated from the planet. A fleet of 50 Covenant ships has been spotted on the other side of the planet and are deploying troops. We'll see you on the ship. Admiral Preston Cole out."

"All those lives were all for nothing then." Murmured Eric.

* * *

Well that's the end of the battle of Harvest. It seems the story doesn't have much interest though so I don't really want to continue. If anyone does want retread it then just review and tell me where the next battle should be.


	14. Dead

Sorry guys, I'm not gonna continue, not enough motivation and not enough interest in it.


End file.
